1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an application program interface for automating high speed network access ordering and provisioning processes. More specifically, an application program interface system and method for automating high speed network access ordering and provisioning processes, particularly involving business to business interactions, such as automating interactions between ISPs and ILEC/CLECs for xDSL service ordering and provisioning processes, are disclosed.
2. Description of Related Art
With the increasing popularity of the Internet and the increasing number of people who telecommute, more and more home and business computer users order and subscribe to high bandwidth or broadband network access services in order to access the Internet via Internet service providers (ISP) and/or corporate networks. The home and business computer end users are typically referred to as subscribers of such high bandwidth or broadband network access service. Such high bandwidth connection services may be provided by Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) providers, cable providers, wireless satellite providers, or digital subscriber line (DSL) providers, for example. Examples of DSL providers include incumbent local exchange carriers (ILECs) such as Pacific Bell (PacBell) of California and competitive local exchange carriers (CLECs) such as Covad Communications Group, Inc., assignee of the subject patent. ILECs and CLECs are collectively referred to as LECs herein.
In the case of providing DSL services to an end user subscriber, the end user subscriber typically orders the DSL service from an ISP and the ISP in turn orders the DSL service from a CLEC. Because the CLEC typically does not own but rather leases lines from an ILEC, the CLEC must also communicate with the ILEC to lease a line between the CLEC central office and the end user subscriber premise.
However, the process of ordering and provisioning high speed access services often requires the coordination of several tasks among several service provider business entities as well as the repeated use of the same or similar information by these several service provider business entities. In particular, the ordering and provisioning of DSL service, for example, may require the coordination of various tasks and information between the ISP and the CLEC. As a result, such ordering and provisioning of DSL services requires much interaction and communication between the ISP who offers the services to end users and the CLEC who acts as the wholesaler of the services. This process often involves a relatively large amount of manual data entry, tending to result in a tedious, time-consuming, inefficient, and error prone process. As is evident, while broadband network access services provide increases in network access speeds, the business to business communications for ordering and provisioning broadband network access services such as xDSL services remains a costly and inefficient process.
It would be thus desirable to provide a system and method for fulfilling broadband service orders that streamlines and improves the accuracy of the interactions and communications between CLECs and ISPs in the broadband, such as xDSL, service ordering and provisioning processes.